Battle Beyond Earth: Deception

by Thomas, Nick S.

  “You’re damn right I am.”

  “And when I put you on your ass for all to see, what will you do then?”

  “You know you talk a good fight, Taylor, but you’re rarely there to fight it yourself.”

  “I’m here right now. No others, just you and me. No weapons, no cheats, no bullshit, do you want this or not?”

  CJ let out a war cry as he rushed forward to tackle Taylor. He got a solid grapple around Taylor’s waist, but the Colonel smashed his elbow into the back of CJ’s head, and that was enough to release his grip. He tried to push him away, but CJ countered with an uppercut. It caught Taylor square on the jaw and sent him stumbling back. He soon regained his composure. His lip was split, but he didn’t care. He was glad of he competition.

  “I’ve looked forward to this day for a long time. You are going to pay for all that you have done.”

  “No, you are,” he replied and came back at Taylor swinging.

  He jabbed and hooked one after the other with as much power as he could muster. Taylor’s guard held off most, but he took two to the body and one to the side of the head that stunned him briefly. CJ was a lot stronger than he would have expected, and he knew he had to up his game. He kicked to the Captain’s legs with all the strength he had, and in one blow CJ buckled slightly. He followed it with two more, but then with punches to the head to make him cover up, before delivering several punishing leg kicks. CJ fell back against the far wall. He was exhausted, but the anger he felt kept fuelling his body to go on.

  CJ grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall beside him and came out swinging. Taylor dodged two of the blows and jabbed at his face. The blow landed, but CJ didn’t even seem to feel it. He swung back with the extinguisher and struck Taylor across the face. The impact was heavy, and he staggered back stunned, soon recovering as he saw the extinguisher flying towards his head as it was thrown at him. He ducked aside, and it narrowly missed his head before bouncing from the wall.

  CJ didn’t let up and flew towards Taylor with his knee towards his stomach. Taylor wasn’t fast enough to stop it, and he folded on the impact that took the wind out of him. As he exhaled and took in all that was happening, he noticed the crowd that had gathered to watch their fight, and remembered the look on Jones’ face when he had come to his rescue.

  I owe these around me a lot more, and I’m not about to let this punk beat me.

  Time seemed to slow as CJ punched towards his face, but he moved aside, and the fist struck the wall beside him. He counter punched with one to CJ’s ribs, and another to his jaw. He staggered backwards but came right back at Taylor. They punched, slipped, and manoeuvred all they could until CJ fell down on a crippling position on Taylor and tried to punch, but he nimbly shrugged him off and turned the tables.

  Taylor was on top and about to deliver a devastating tirade when someone took hold of him and hauled him away. He fought back, but to no avail, realising Rogers and Jones had dragged him off the clone. They let him stand, but pushed him away as he tried to get back to finish the job.

  CJ was just smiling back at him with blood in his teeth and trickling from his lip.

  “Another time, Colonel.”

  “What’s your goddamn problem?” Jones asked.

  Rogers and Jones hauled Taylor away and left CJ where he was.

  “He’ll not stop until one of us is dead, so why not get this over with?”

  “Believe it or not, that idiot is actually useful to us.”

  “Yes, Jones, right up to the point that he sticks a knife in your back!”

  “CJ is a hindrance and a nuisance to us, no doubt, but he is one that we can all live with, Colonel,” Rogers added, trying to calm things.

  Taylor had such fury in his eyes that he clearly want to go back and finish the job, though deep down he was astonished at how quick and strong the clone was, far more so than he remembered.

  “So what now?” Rogers asked.

  “Taylor’s got a little time, and I think we all deserve a break after what we have just been through.”

  “We should get back. There’s plenty more work to be done, and the longer you stick around here, the greater the chance of Bolormaa discovering the truth. Don’t think for a moment that she doesn’t have agents working throughout the Alliance.”

  “Yeah, that asshole could well be one of them,” Jones snarled as he gestured back to where they had just left CJ.

  But they carried on, and Taylor was slowly calming down.

  “Anyway, Jones, what the hell were you doing out there on that shithole of a world?”

  Jones shook his head in disbelief as he thought back to how it had all started, and it hadn’t even occurred to him that Taylor didn’t know. For a moment, he had fallen into the deception and remembered Taylor being there when they set off.

  “Intel had us believe that humans were flooding to Hajander to sign up with Bolormaa.”

  “Well, I guess the intel was right for a change, huh?” Taylor joked.

  Rogers didn’t appreciate the joke.

  “No, that’s precisely it. The humans we found had been there for hundreds of years. They hadn’t come from Alliance territory. They were the descendants of the colonists that the Alliance left there to die all that time ago.”

  “Am I missing something here? What’s that all about?”

  “Hajander was colonised during the pioneering years not too long after the defeat of Erdogan, but those colonies were self-sufficient. Hajander was lost to some disease or equally horrible fate, or so we thought, ” Rogers explained.

  “Yeah, well, that wasn’t it at all. Hajander was home to creatures that didn’t want humanity there,” Jones said angrily.

  “The Alliance couldn’t have known…” began Rogers.

  “Bullshit,” snapped Jones. Of course they could have! The Alliance never went back there to find out what happened, and they’d have found out just as soon as we did. I am not one to believe in conspiracies, not until the evidence is before my very eyes, and this instance that is precisely where it was, and it wasn’t pretty. Those creatures tore us apart. We lost a lot of good people down there.”

  “I am sorry, Captain, but I had no idea. But I have no doubt that humans are leaving Alliance territory in search of Bolormaa. A powerful leader such as her will always draw followers.”

  “I’ve seen it all before. The stupidity of people never ceases to amaze me,” replied Taylor.

  “What really concerns me, Colonel, is what was a Prince doing at Hajander? They must have had big plans for that world. Perhaps our intelligence resources weren’t wrong after all. What better humans to be the poster boys for Bolormaa’s army than those colonists, left to die and with such a bitter and twisted resentment towards the Alliance. Perhaps we caught it in the early days?”

  “Yeah, about that, you cut that Prince down like it was nothing,” said Jones in amazement.

  “Enough, Captain, we were never there,” Rogers replied sternly.

  Jones sighed. He had so many questions, and yet knew he had to hold his tongue for all their sakes.

  “So what now?” he asked.

  “I am only for a few hours. There is much work to be done, and Taylor must continue to get his rest,” replied Rogers.

  Taylor groaned. He didn’t like having to play the part of a maimed animal that should be shown sympathy.

  Jones opened his mouth to speak, and yet again he realised he couldn’t. He wanted to know more about the suits and the equipment he had seen Taylor and Rogers wearing, but he had to keep his mouth shut.

  “I am sure the Admiral will be keen to be updated on the latest from my work,” said Rogers.

  “And what was that?”

  “Recruitment. The Alliance needs all hands on decks, and I am doing what I can to convince everyone to join up.”

  “Has conscription not been introduced yet?” Taylor asked in astonishment.

  “On some worlds, yes, but it is not the Alliance which has the powers to enac
t such a significant draft. Individual colonies must decide for themselves, and you would be a great help in that process.

  “Sorry, Captain, I’ve been roped into enough of those schemes in my time. I stay away from all that propaganda and politics now.”

  “Yeah, right,” muttered Jones.

  And that made Rogers smile.

  “The only thing that would keep you out of the spotlight would be your death.”

  “And even then he’d find a way to come back. Hell, he has before,” joked Jones.

  A few weeks before it would not have been funny to Taylor, his death seemed almost certain at the hands of Bolormaa, although now he seemed to have hope. Hope that not only did he have the means to stand up to her, but also the support of Rivers and Rogers that he needed to be able to continue doing so. He desperately wanted to tell Jones all about it, but just like the Captain, he had no choice but to hold his tongue.

  “So these Screamers I have been hearing about, are they really as the stories would have us believe?”

  “That and more. They are highly advanced pack predators. They’re fast, their claws are like steel, and they are relentless. They could not be scared off, and a savage breed of creatures that I don’t think I have ever seen anything like before.”

  “There are plenty of bloodthirsty creatures in this life.”

  “But these, they seemed to do it for fun.”

  “Or maybe they were simply protecting their territory. Would you not do the same to any hostile beings that came to your world and tried to make it their own? Is that not exactly what we did to the Krys?” Rogers asked.

  “But the Krys are an advanced civilisation that can be reasoned with.”

  Taylor laughed. “Listen to yourself, Jones. There was a time not so long ago that you’d not have thought of them as any different than these…Screamers.”

  “Maybe not, but all I know is that no human being should ever try and set foot on that planet again. It is a hell that I would not wish on any man.”

  “These Screamers, they sound like something that could be weaponised…”

  But Jones stopped and grabbed Rogers violently by the collar, hauling him in close.

  “Did you not hear what I just said?”

  “Yes, I heard you, Captain. I heard you very well, and just think what damage those things could do if they could be controlled, or at least directed at our enemy?”

  “You’d do that? You’d use savage creatures in that way?”

  “You’re damn right I would. I will do whatever I have to in order for us to win this war. Sometimes it isn’t nice, and it isn’t pretty, but it is what it is.”

  “Let him go,” demanded Taylor.

  Jones did as asked, but he still looked furious.

  “You have no idea what you are talking about. You can’t tame those creatures, and you can’t control them. Anyone who meddles with them will likely die or cause many others to die in their stead. Do not go near Hajander, you hear me?”

  Rogers refused to make any kind of response. It was clear that he didn’t want to promise something he couldn’t.

  “Don’t be a fool,” added Jones.

  “Come on, we’ve all been fools in our time, and are all still here to tell the tale.”

  Taylor tried to calm the situation down. He was surprised to find himself in the unique position of negotiator.

  “Gentleman, join me please,” a voice called.

  They looked down the corridor. Admiral Nilsson was gesturing for them to join him. They followed him onto the bridge, and Taylor did his best to look wounded and bedraggled, but he wasn’t as good an actor as Bradley was.

  “You knew what we’d find down there, didn’t you?” Jones snapped in an accusing tone before the Admiral could get a word out.

  “I had no such information. Everything I knew was passed on to you before your mission. If I had known more, then so would have you.”

  “That could have been the end of us. Had it not been for Taylor and the Captain here we would have died there. An entire company of the best troops the Alliance has to offer, do you think it was worth it?”

  It was clear that he was furious, but the Admiral kept calm as he always did, and did not rise to his angry outburst.

  “We live in volatile times, Captain. Missions are dangerous, all of them are. You ended up with a bad one, and I am sorry for your losses, but I think you are placing the blame in the wrong place. It was not the Alliance that got your people killed, and had I sent anyone else, then maybe none of them would have come back alive, and where would we be then?”

  “No,” Jones slumped down into a chair.

  “There is more going on at Hajander than you realise, Sir,” said Rogers. The Admiral allowed him to continue, “There are humans there, fighting in the name of Bolormaa, but they are not Alliance citizens. They are what was left from the colony, Admiral.”

  “You mean to tell me that some of the colonists survived? And that…”

  His voice faded off as he realised what that meant.

  “And that the Alliance left them to rot, that’s right,” Taylor said.

  Nilsson showed more emotion in that moment than any of them had seen before, and it calmed Jones somewhat. The sincerity was there for all three of them to see. The Admiral looked as though he had just lost his own family, and it took him a few moments to compose himself.

  “But none of that matters now. All that does matter is that they are fighting for her, that bitch Queen,” Taylor added.

  “Yes, and where they go more will follow,” replied Rogers.

  “They already have,” Nilsson spoke softly.

  “What? How so?” Jones asked.

  “Quite honestly, I don’t have a lot to go on, and after the disaster at Hajander, I wouldn’t like to feed you false information again.”

  “We can take it, and I’d always rather know what facts there are than none at all,” replied Taylor.

  The Admiral thought about it briefly before coming to the conclusion that it was the right thing to do. He had just been thrown off his game by the news.

  “The reports of humans defecting to Bolormaa may be at least in part be true, but there is little physical evidence of many doing so.”

  “And?” Taylor asked as if waiting for the punch line.

  “An Alliance base was recently attacked, and there were reports of armies of humans fighting alongside Morohtan warriors and even Gurvs. More so than can be explained by those small numbers known to have left in search of Bolormaa.”

  “Well, where are they coming from?” Jones asked.

  Taylor had already worked out what he was trying to say. “Prisoners or slaves captured and forced to fight.”

  “That seems likely, though I have no idea what would bring any man or woman to fight for Bolormaa and against their own people.”

  “Most wouldn’t do it willingly,” said Rogers.

  “Then Bolormaa must have some kind of hold over them,” added Jones.

  They could all see that the Admiral knew more than he was letting on.

  “You know where this is happening, don’t you?” Rogers asked in disbelief that such intelligence had been kept from him.

  “Maybe, at Usata. There have been reports of traffic in that area that does not entirely make sense, and a number of craft were tracked after the attack I mentioned.”

  “Well? What are we doing about it?”

  “What can we do, Colonel?”

  “You know what this means, don’t you, Admiral? That our own people are being held against their wills, and twisted and turned to fight against us?”

  “We don’t know what it really means,” added Rogers.

  “We know enough, so what are we going to do about it?”

  “Right now, there is nothing we can do. Our resources are spread thinly, as you know. We’d need a substantial force to go to Usata and have any hope of returning alive.”

  “Then we go in, a small party that can work quickly
and quietly,” declared Taylor.

  The Admiral was already shaking his head.

  “Your identity cannot be compromised. It’ll be a miracle if what happened on Hajander doesn’t get out, but if you two and those suits are seen meddling with the enemy’s work at Usata, the game will be up. It will be obvious, and you have more important things to be working on at this time, Colonel.”

  “No? That is your answer? Is that coming from you, or from the Alliance?”

  “Both.”

  The room fell silent as they realised they were all being told to do absolutely nothing.

  “Colonel, I suggest you leave this station as soon as possible. Every moment you stay here you continue to endanger the operation that Captain Rogers and Sergeant Bradley have worked so hard to achieve,” said Nilsson.

  “If I choose to go to Usata, there is nothing you can do to stop me,” growled Taylor.

  “No, that is true, Colonel, but that does not mean I have to provide you with the resources to make such a foolhardy decision. You cannot complete a mission like that without help, and you have nowhere to find it. As far as the universe is concerned, you are incapacitated and not fit for duty. If you reach out and look for others to join you, you will destroy the work that has been done here to protect you. Surely you can see that?”

  “And all those people that are prisoners of war, you will do nothing for them?”

  “I will do what I can, when I can, but right now the priority is of survival of the human race. We are losing, and you know that, don’t you?”

  “We certainly will if we give up on our own, Admiral!”

  Taylor stormed out of the room. Jones quickly followed him, but Rogers stopped at the door, knowing Nilsson was not done.

  “You know how important he is, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “And you know how important Bradley and your work has been in buying us the time we need to try and get through this?”

  “I do, Admiral.”

  “Then be wary of your own emotions. The Colonel lets his get the better of him, and he always has, and I am not blind to how appealing he can be. Taylor takes the moral high ground, and tries to give the impossible.”